Besides, of all the characters to be given a spinoff, I honestly cannot see Muffy carrying a show by herself; she's too obnoxious of a character to star in her own show and have it be appealing, it'd be like giving Randall from Recess his own show.

I know there's been the fear that "In My Africa" is basically a poorly disguised pilot for a spinoff series focusing on D.W. and Cheik, or however you spell his name... I doubt that'll happen either, but still.

Postcards From Buster was a good attempt, it was just odd to see the second banana carry the torch, and the mix of both live action of animated segments has become an overused gimmick in most PBS shows these days. Arthur is such a true ensemble series, that it's really difficult to try to give any specific character(s) from the show their own spinoff and have it reach a level of success... like with M*A*S*H, after that series ended, they tried to do a spinoff with Colonel Potter, Klinger, and Father Mulcahy, and it failed miserably. Similarly, they tried a BUNCH of different Sanford and Son spinoffs that didn't work, one of which was basically just Sanford without Son... none of them worked.

A successful spinoff would probably be something that kind of takes place within the same universe (Elwood City, or maybe like Crowne City, or whatever), by focusing on a slightly new cast of characters that don't have much significant relevance to the Arthur cast (though they could make crossover appearances)... kind of like Green Acres was to Petticoat Junction, and even what Petticoat Junction was to The Beverly Hillbillies: each of those shows took place in the same universe, but had different casts of characters, and they even crossed over into each of the shows occasionally. If they took an interesting one-shot character from Arthur and gave that character a spinoff, it MIGHT work, but it would all depend on how well it's executed.

Logged

I stretch like a snake, and I shimmy and shake, and I bounce like a ball, and I say something cute when you give me a squeeze!

Besides, of all the characters to be given a spinoff, I honestly cannot see Muffy carrying a show by herself; she's too obnoxious of a character to star in her own show and have it be appealing, it'd be like giving Randall from Recess his own show.

I know there's been the fear that "In My Africa" is basically a poorly disguised pilot for a spinoff series focusing on D.W. and Cheik, or however you spell his name... I doubt that'll happen either, but still.

Postcards From Buster was a good attempt, it was just odd to see the second banana carry the torch, and the mix of both live action of animated segments has become an overused gimmick in most PBS shows these days. Arthur is such a true ensemble series, that it's really difficult to try to give any specific character(s) from the show their own spinoff and have it reach a level of success... like with M*A*S*H, after that series ended, they tried to do a spinoff with Colonel Potter, Klinger, and Father Mulcahy, and it failed miserably. Similarly, they tried a BUNCH of different Sanford and Son spinoffs that didn't work, one of which was basically just Sanford without Son... none of them worked.

A successful spinoff would probably be something that kind of takes place within the same universe (Elwood City, or maybe like Crowne City, or whatever), by focusing on a slightly new cast of characters that don't have much significant relevance to the Arthur cast (though they could make crossover appearances)... kind of like Green Acres was to Petticoat Junction, and even what Petticoat Junction was to The Beverly Hillbillies: each of those shows took place in the same universe, but had different casts of characters, and they even crossed over into each of the shows occasionally. If they took an interesting one-shot character from Arthur and gave that character a spinoff, it MIGHT work, but it would all depend on how well it's executed.

If they choose any character from Arthur to do a spinoff of IMO Alex or Maria or both are probably the best candidates for that due to the fact neither have ever been focused upon before. On top of that they are in Mr. Ratburn's class meaning they will be able to interact with Arthur and the other main characters in the class. It's like you said it depends on how it's executed is the difference between the show doing well and the show becoming a bigger flop then the movie Glitter.

I also agree that anything on Wikipedia should be taken with a grain of salt, which is why I said "rumored" and "IF it's true."

And I agree with the Alex and Maria idea! They should be depicted as cousins/best friends (though I prefer the former) who live right on the edge of Elwood City limits, and who are mainly friends with the Mighty Mountain/Glenbrook/etc. kids who live near them. That would explain why they are never shown hanging out with the Arthur gang. It's genius!

MCCJ

I also agree that anything on Wikipedia should be taken with a grain of salt, which is why I said "rumored" and "IF it's true."

And I agree with the Alex and Maria idea! They should be depicted as cousins/best friends (though I prefer the former) who live right on the edge of Elwood City limits, and who are mainly friends with the Mighty Mountain/Glenbrook/etc. kids who live near them. That would explain why they are never shown hanging out with the Arthur gang. It's genius!

Now your thinking what I'm thinking. That could be a good explanation as well as a bunch of other things that have yet to be explained. Also Jenna could potentially get involved. In my opinion I don't think enough was done with Jenna. They could also add other characters seen at Lakewood as well. It would further more backup what you say about not being seen with the gang all the time. I mean Alex and Maria are with the gang in some episodes outside of the school, but not all the time.

While I like Muffy, I can't see her getting a spinoff. She's such a central character on the show, and unlike Buster-- who regularly goes on travels and therefore a travel show with new characters makes sense-- Muffy more or less stays in Elwood City and tends to hang around the main group of Arthur characters.

If anything, I'd like to see a spinoff involving the Frenskys (with Francine being more or less an ancillary character or not appearing at all). They've introduced so many members of Francine's family over the years, I could see it working.